While touting the tire's convenience, the company also said its Air Maintenance Technology will help motorists economize on gas, and also will ensure they'll need to buy new tires less frequently.

Properly inflated tires last longer and can save about 12 cents per gallon at the pump, according to the company.

How it Works

Goodyear didn't say when it would roll out the tire for consumer use or how much it might cost, but it expects development to accelerate now that it has received millions of dollars in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy and the government of Luxembourg.

Self-inflating tires have already been in use, mostly commercially, but -- so far -- they have required an external source, such as a reservoir, according to Autoblog, a DailyFinance sister site.

The self-inflating, self-monitoring technology of a peristaltic pump, which uses the spinning of the tire to generate air, emerged back in 2009, when it won Code Development the top innovation award at the Tire Technology Expo in Hamburg, Germany.

If tire manufacturers want to get us even more excited, why don't they come up with a gizmo that changes flats for us?

This would be awesome!! No one would never have to change a flat tire on the side of the road themselves, or have to call On-Star for road side assistance on a flat tire. It would be like the police cars off of Demolition Man where the tires get a blow out and they fix themselves while driving down the road. So all I have to say is “What is your boggle?” LOL.

Three of the four Goodyear tires that came with my new Toyotas Prius, as original equipment, developed slow leaks after going about 30,000 miles. The tire pressure warning light kept going on. A constant hassle. I replaced them with Michelins that have not leaked since. Maybe what Goodyear should be doing is just making better tires that do not develop slow leaks. The tread lifetime also left much to be desired.